Tag: Cricket Australia

DELHI, 14 March: It’s the first time an Australian side has come from 2-0 down in an ODI series and won, it also sealed Australia’s first ODI series win in India in a decade.

Usman Khawaja’s (100) second century of the series helped secure Australia victory, it also earned him player of the series after he amassed 383 runs from his five innings.

Khawaja’s ton, a half century to Peter Handscmb (52) and a late blast from Jhye Richardson (29) helped Australia set India 273 for victory.

An all round contribution from Australia’s bowling attack saw India dismissed for 237. Adam Zampa was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with figures of 3/46. Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, and Marcus Stoinis claimed two wickets each.

The ODI series win caps off a successful Qantas Tour of India, with Australia also securing the T20I series over India 2-0.

MELBOURNE, 8 March: The Australian Men’s team will play five ODI matches against Pakistan starting in Sharjah on March 22. The National Selection Panel has announced an unchanged ODI squad of fifteen for the upcoming Qantas Tour of the UAE.

Chairman of the National Selection Panel, Trevor Hohns, said:

“The National Selection Panel has named an unchanged squad for the upcoming tour against Pakistan in the UAE.

“The squad has started this tour well against a very good Indian side, they won the T20I Series and have pushed the hosts in the opening two matches of the ODI series in challenging sub-continent conditions.

“The squad is making pleasing progress ahead of the World Cup, and with three matches remaining in India and the five match series against Pakistan to come, we believe they will benefit further from the continuity of playing together.

“Despite returning to Australia last week, Kane Richardson has been included in the squad as we monitor his recovery from the left side strain injury. We are hopeful he will recover in time for the Pakistan series.

“Unfortunately, Mitchell Starc’s recovery from his left pectoral muscle strain has been set back by a slight recurrence as he commenced bowling. This has ruled him out of the Pakistan Series and while frustrating for all involved, our focus is to have Mitch ready for the World Cup.”

Hohns also clarified the rationale behind Steve Smith and David Warner’s non-selection for the final two matches of the Pakistan Series.

“After consultation with members of the National Selection Panel, Greg Chappell and Head Coach Justin Langer, Interim EGM Team Performance Belinda Clark, CA Medical Team and both players, it has been agreed Steve Smith and David Warner will not be available for selection for the final two matches of the series against Pakistan.”

“While their bans will be finished on March 28, Steve and David have been working through rehabilitation from elbow surgery and it has been agreed the best pathway for them to return to play is in the Indian Premier League, a strong competition which features some of the world’s best players.

“David will play with Sunrisers Hyderabad and Steve with Rajastan Royals. Cricket Australia will continue to liaise with both Steve, David and their IPL clubs to monitor progress as we build towards the ICC World Cup and the Ashes.”

MELBOURNE, 4 March: The continual growth of girl’s participation and all-girls teams, the transition to a standalone rebel Women’s Big Bash League, as well as the unforgettable and inspiring ICC World T20 victory by the world champion Australian Women’s Cricket Team are all noteworthy achievements highlighted in the Australian Cricket 2019 Press for Progress Report, released nationally today.

In line with International Women’s Day, Australian Cricket’s launch of its second Press for Progress Report reflects the commitment to be openly accountable for the ongoing progress towards our aspiration of being Australia’s Leading Sport for Women and Girls.

Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts said while there had been solid progress in the report findings, he also acknowledged there is still much to achieve in order to achieve true gender equality in cricket.

“Key to our commitment is being transparent and not shying away from our challenges: overcoming the perception that cricket is still ‘not for girls’, continuing to draw women’s elite sport into the public arena, and authentically prioritising workforce diversity across the country,” Roberts said.

“While we’re proud of the progress made, we know and are committed to this and for the first time we share our 2022 national targets that collectively across Australian Cricket we are all working towards.”

International Women’s Day 2019 also marks the one-year countdown to the women’s final of the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, at the MCG.

All Australians have the opportunity to create history, as we look to break the world record for the highest ever attendance at a standalone women’s sporting event on Sunday 8 March 2020.

The boldness of this goal has led to Cricket Australia partnering with International Women’s Day on a content collaboration recently released, calling on sports globally to share what they are doing to drive forward gender equality in sport.

“Ultimately, success will be achieved when cricket is viewed as a genuinely gender equal sport, aligned with this year’s theme for International Women’s Day: Balance for Better, which highlights that each and every one of us has a role to play in creating a gender-balanced world,” Roberts concluded.

MELBOURNE,10 February: Ricky Ponting, Australia’s assistant coach for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, believes the defending champions will be one of the main contenders for the title, despite their recent troubles in the one-day international game.

Australia is No.6 on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings and have struggled without Steve Smith and David Warner, leading to concerns about their chances in England and Wales. To boost their chances, they have brought on board Ponting, who is a three-time World Cup winner – twice as captain – as Justin Langer’s assistant for the tournament.

The former captain argued that the conditions in England and Wales will favor the men in green and gold, who will also be strengthened by the expected returns of Smith and Warner by then.”Absolutely,” Ponting told reporters on Sunday, 10 February, when asked if he thought Australia could defend their title. “India and England are probably the two standout teams right now, but if you add Warner and Smith back into that line-up, then I think that team looks as strong as any.

“I am not just saying that because I am one of the coaches. I actually said it when I wasn’t around the group. Conditions in England will suit our style of play … I think Australia will be one of the main contenders for sure.

“With the inclusion of two of the best one-day players in the world who have a lot of experience, all of a sudden the team starts looking a whole lot better,” he added. “You will have guys that will handle a lot of pressure situations better because they have done it all before.”

The bans of Smith and Warner will run till March 28. However, the two have been under an injury cloud, with Smith especially facing a spell on the sidelines after elbow surgery. Australia also has injury concerns to speedsters Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, but Ponting shrugged it off.

“We went to World Cups with Michael Bevan injured, Darren Lehmann suspended, Warney (Shane Warne) went home and Jason Gillespie went home,” Ponting remembered of his time in the tournament.

“World Cups very rarely run exactly to plan … All the planning right now is we will have all those guys in the squad and if we do, it looks as good as any squad on paper.”

MELBOURNE, January 4: Former Australian cricketer Shane Warne has expressed his unhappiness at the Australian ODIs squad against India announced today by the Cricket Australia in a Tweet as “These ridiculous selections must stop in all forms of Australian cricket – end of !”
In a Tweet earlier he said, ” Just saw the Aust ODI squad that was announced & was absolutely staggered at some of the players that were left out & some of the inclusions – they don’t make any sense whatsoever. I was asked by @foxcricket to give my team – so here it is ! Thoughts ? Agree ?”

In a media release, the Cricket Australia’s National Selection Panel announced the following 14-man squad for the Gillette ODI Series v India starting in Sydney at the SCG on January 12:

National selector, Trevor Hohns, said: “After a disappointing period in ODI cricket, the National Selection Panel along with team coaches have reviewed our performances across this format and we’ve identified a number of key areas that we feel we need to improve in order to help put this team in the best possible position to turn this period around.”

“With this in mind and the World Cup looming, we’ve selected players we feel provide us with the flexibility to play a variety of roles at different stages of a match.”

“The upcoming three-match series against India and the ODI tours of India and the UAE are important windows to put this into practice and to build a squad to help defend our World Cup title.

“After a hefty workload in the Indian series to date, it has been decided not to select Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in this squad to allow them to freshen up for the Test series against Sri Lanka.”

“It’s wonderful to have Peter back in the squad for the first time since 2010. His white ball cricket has improved considerably the older he has got, and his selection is great reward for his professionalism and strong leadership qualities.”

“We have rewarded both Jhye and Jason as they continue to put up strong performances with the white ball. Jason provides us with a left arm option in the absence of Mitchell Starc and is very capable of taking wickets early in the innings.”

“Nathan Lyon comes back into the squad and will join Adam Zampa as our spin options. Nathan is the best off-spin bowler in the world and we’ve noted how successful teams around the world have been using a two pronged spin attack in the right conditions in white ball cricket, something we are very mindful of heading to the World Cup.”

“Usman is a batsman we know can put vital runs on the board at the top of the order, and Peter is not only a fine player of spin bowling, he’s also a batsman we know can hold an innings together while keeping the scoreboard ticking over. Mitch gives us another all-round option with his ability with both bat and ball.”

“Travis Head, Darcy Short and Chris Lynn have been unlucky to miss out. All three have had opportunities to cement their spots, but unfortunately, they have not been as productive as we would have liked in recent times when playing ODI cricket for Australia.”

“Unfortunately for Ashton Agar the return of Nathan Lyon as one of our specialist spinners means there wasn’t a place available in the squad for him.”

“Nathan Coulter-Nile recently experienced some lower back soreness, and on the advice of our medical staff we weren’t prepared to risk selecting Nathan in the side given the demands of the upcoming ODI series.”

“As has been our message throughout the summer, with such a big schedule ahead, both home and away, opportunities may well present themselves for players not selected in this squad.”